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Conor Kavanagh, 29, was charged with three counts of first-degree armed robbery, Acting Monmouth County Prosecutor Lori Linskey said on Monday.
An investigation was initiated after the first of three bank robberies, which took place shortly after 1:15 p.m. on Nov. 13 at the PNC Bank inside the Stop & Shop supermarket on Route 36 in Keyport, the prosecutor said.
At that time, a man later identified as Kavanagh approached a teller window, passed over a note indicating he was in possession of a weapon, and made off with an unspecified amount of cash, leaving the scene in a green Toyota pickup truck, Linskey said.
At approximately 4 p.m. on Dec. 14, a bank robbery occurred at the Wells Fargo branch on Newman Springs Road in the Lincroft section of Middletown, Linskey said.The bank robbery was committed in identical fashion to the earlier one in Keyport, with the suspect wearing similar clothing, and leaving the scene in a green Toyota pickup truck, according to the prosecutor.
Three days later, on Friday, Dec. 17, the Wells Fargo branch on Route 36 in Eatontown was robbed, Linskey said. Again, a suspect passed a note demanding money, indicating that he was in possession of a weapon, she said.
Detectives from the Middletown Police Department developed information that led to Kavanagh to being identified as a potential suspect, Linskey said. After the bank robbery in Eatontown, Middletown Detectives and assisting members of the FBI observed Kavanagh driving the green getaway vehicle that matched the description of the pickup truck allegedly used in the bank robberies, and placed him under arrest for unrelated charges, according to Linskey.
Detectives reportedly searched the pickup truck and located proceeds from the Eatontown bank robbery and the clothing the suspect was seen wearing on surveillance footage, the prosecutor said.
They also located information pertaining to a storage unit in Shrewsbury, and a search at that location turned up proceeds from the Keyport and Middletown bank robberies, she said.
Additionally, a search of the cell phone Kavanagh was using contained evidence of online searches for local bank branches, according to the prosecutor.
Kavanagh was being held at the Monmouth County Correctional Institution.
Monmouth County Assistant Prosecutor Stephanie Dugan is handling the case.
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